China will continue to be a net importer of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) until 2022, primarily due to growing demand from the household appliances, electrical and electronics, automotive and industrial sector, says GlobalData.

Dayanand Kharade, Petrochemicals Analyst at GlobalData, explains: “The ABS industry in China is expected to grow with increasing demand from the household appliances, electrical and electronics, automotive and industrial sector. China is likely to continue to be a net importer, importing around one third of its demand during the forecast period.”

GlobalData reveals that the demand value for ABS is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6% from US$9.6 billion in 2017 to US$12.9 billion in 2022. The average price of ABS is forecast to increase at a CAGR of 2.5% from US$1875.8/t in 2017 to US$2122.9/t in 2022. China ABS imports as percentage of demand is forecast to increase from 34.9% in 2017 to 41.7% in 2022.

The country’s major companies are Chi Mei Corp., China National Petroleum Corp., Formosa Plastics Group, LG Chem Ltd and Tianjin Daxie Chemical Co. Ltd. Together they accounted for 77.3% of the ABS capacity in 2017.

Kharade concludes: “Household appliances, electrical and electronics, automotive and industrial sector, which together accounted for 95.1% of the ABS demand in the country last year, will continue to drive the Chinese ABS imports over the next five years.”